(Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center) … “My parents really instilled in me the importance of conservation,” says (Rebecca) Ong, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Michigan Technological University and researcher at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). “From an early age, I had this idea of sustainability and the importance of finding sustainable sources of energy.”

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“I was interested in engineering,” says Ong. “I didn’t know what it was or know any engineers, I was from the middle of nowhere, but I talked to someone at Michigan Tech where I did my undergrad and they told me it was basically problem-solving.”

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She majored in chemical engineering but tacked on a degree in plant biology. “I had no plan to integrate them at all,” she says, “I was just interested in plants.” All of that changed, however, when Ong attended a lecture by Michigan State University professor Bruce Dale on the research behind converting biomass to biofuel.

“It was the first time I actually saw someone relate chemical engineering with plant biology,” says Ong. “I decided that this is what I want to do, this is what interests me, this is the way I can marry two things I really love in a way that could actually make a big difference in the world.”

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For her Ph.D., Ong assessed how different plant characteristics impact the efficiency and outcomes of biomass conversion to fuel.

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In 2016, Ong accepted a faculty position at Michigan Tech, where her research now aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the biomass conversion process, including a better understanding of how “upstream” factors such as weather patterns, planting decisions, or microorganisms in the soil influence the characteristics of dedicated energy crops, as well as how these characteristics might affect the microbes charged with converting biomass to fuel. READ MORE / MORE